BofA Eyes NFL Club Rights As Part Of Renewal Of League Deal
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BofA Wants To Use Marks From
NFL Teams To Market Cards |
Bank of America (BofA) and the NFL are in “difficult negotiations to renew the bank’s league sponsorship, with several teams balking at the financial institution’s push to be able to use the logos of all 32 clubs to market debit and credit cards,” according to Daniel Kaplan of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The prospective deal would pay the league “substantially more than the $10[M] annually the NFL currently receives” from BofA. The renewal being discussed would allow BofA to continue to “tout itself as the league’s official credit card, mortgage and retail banking sponsor and also would give the bank new sponsorship rights in the wealth management and investment banking categories, areas the league has been trying to sell for years.” But it is the “addition of the team-level rights for debit cards, and the expansion of the credit card platform to similarly allow for marketing those cards using team logos, that’s providing the greatest debate for closing a deal." BofA Senior VP/National Media Relations Joe Goode said, "An NFL sponsorship renewal hinges on our ability to secure collective rights for all 32 teams. Without these rights, we cannot deliver sufficient revenue to justify the marketing investment with our shareholders." Kaplan reports several NFL clubs are "worried about even giving nonexclusive rights" to BofA for debit cards. While teams "could sell other debit card deals, the worry is that if a team were to secure a naming-rights deal with a financial institution, that company would want exclusivity in the hot category of debit cards as part of its deal." Dolphins CEO Mike Dee: "This is one of those situations of balancing national and local team rights." Kaplan notes, "Compounding the matter is that banking is traditionally one of the most local of sponsorships." Owners are "frequently close to their banks, which may have financed the team’s stadium or handle the team’s financial affairs" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/19 issue).
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